Understand the development of trait theory The view that criminals have physical or mental traits that make them different began with the Italian physician and criminologist Cesare Lombroso....

Understand the development of trait theory The view that criminals have physical or mental traits that make them different began with the Italian physician and criminologist Cesare Lombroso. Biological theory had many supporters in the early twentieth century who linked criminality to such traits as body build and the structure of the skull. There were also early efforts to link criminality to mental illness, intelligence, and maladaptive personality. This work lell out of favor as social theories of crime were developed. In the early 1970s, spurred by the publication ofSociobiology: The New Synthesis, by Edmund O. Wilson, biological explanations of crime once again emerged. Trail theorists today recognize lhai crime-producing inieraclions involve boih personal trails and environmental factors. If only a few offenders become persistent repealers, what sets them apart from the rest ot the criminal population may be some crime-producing trait.